The quality of the grapes you put into wine are the greatest determinant of the quality of the wine produced. In other words, doing an effective job of growing grapes is essential to producing excellent wine.

It All Starts With The Location

The initial step to grape planting is planning. The most important planning step for growing grapes that are of good quality is choosing the right location. One of the keys to a great area is a lot of sunlight, spread equally across the grapevine. This provides your grapes to fill up with natural sugars, which will be necessary for the production of alcohol during fermentation.

Selecting good soil is one more important factor of location selection. Your soil should not have sitting water. So your soil should drain properly. It is important to dig your planting holes deep so that the soil can be loosened for good drainage. Also, steer clear of the typical mistake of using fertilizers for your soil. You shouldn't use fertilizers at all, as these will only benefit the weeds. Compost should be used only when even weeds don't grow in the soil. Wine grapes need to be small, so it is important to keep soil nutrients to the very least.

Your vines must be planted at least 6 feet separately. If you intend to have a large vineyard, 8 feet apart is a better choice. If you do your grape planting properly, one healthy grapevine should be able to produce a gallon of wine. But, even if you do all the things correctly, there is the possibility of losing part of your grape crop to disease, bugs, and birds. This is a good point to do more grape planting than seems necessary.

Tips on Growing Grapes

Of course, grape clusters are very heavy and hang from vines. So these vines are gonna need to have a trellis to grow on as well as for support. During the first year of growth you will need to choose the strongest shoot from every vine to tie to the trellis for direction and support. String or another soft material is a better choice than wire for tying, as wire can injure the shoot. The weaker shoots must be clipped. During inactive growth periods, you should prune the vines as well. When the vines begin growing again, usually during the spring, choose the strongest new vines out of the shoot to gently tie to the wires. These will be the vines that support the grape clusters that will be utilized to make wine.

Harvesting Your Grapes

A hydrometer will help you with harvest time. A wine making store might carry a hydrometer. It is used to test the gravity levels of a liquid. The basic idea is that you want to check for the proper sugar content of your grapes just before harvesting them. Usually, a gravity of up to 1.105 is ideal, though it can be as low as 1.095 and still be okay for harvesting.

It may take years for your grape planting efforts to pay off, but it will be worth your time when it does.

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